Night Watch This was a crazy and weird vampire movie. I enjoyed it. It was hard to understand at first, but after a while, some crazy stuff. Them Russians pulled it off. It kept me interested. That's the main point. This is supposed to be part of a trilogy. Only the first two movies are out. Not sure when they'll make part three. But, I wouldn't mind watching the second movie sometime soon. It is called Day Watch. My favorite things about this movie are the little differences. Right here, vampires can disappear but you can see them with a mirror instead of the other way around. Good mythology in this movie. Have lots of garlic ready when you see this one. I had me some Garlic Pasta with Shrimp. You never know nowadays.
The Girl In The Cafe This was a sweet little movie. Charming and also political. One person can make a difference. That was one of the main message behind this movie. Basically, this important older guy who works for the government, meets this younger girl who has a lot to say about her disagreements with certain government actions. They form a friendship and a relationship and things get interesting. Good, short, and to the point. It gets a little too preachy towards the end. But, okay. A little romance, a little bit of comedy, and some drama. Goes good with a shepards pie and English beer. But I should of had some coffee with lots of sugar.
We Need To Talk About Kevin Overall, this was a good movie. Crazy kid. I just wanted to slap him silly. This gives us an insight on kid behavior. It's not always about how you were brought up or the things that happened to you. Sometimes, you were just naturally born into it. This is about a mentally disturbed kid who grows up and creates a big tragedy. This is about the mother and her relationship with this kid. I really liked the music on here. They played some happy songs while depressed or sad moments were happening. Good performances. The only thing I didn't like is that they go back and forth every few minutes between the past and the present. But it wasn't that annoying. Good solid drama. This would be a little disturbing to most parents. Who wants to have a kid like Kevin?
George Harrison: Living in the Material World Man, I love Martin Scorsese and I love the Beatles, so this was a must for me. Needless to say, I was kind of disappointed. It was 3 hours and 20 minutes long. That's a long time for a documentary. The first half dealt mainly about The Beatles and less about George Harrison. The second half finally got to talk mostly about Harrison. They should of re-cut this down by an hour or so. At least there was a lot of good music playing. And I got to know some stuff I didn't know about George Harrison. I didn't know that he financed the movie, Life of Brian. I didn't know about his obsession and dedication to God. Some interesting stuff. Just wished it was shorter than that and to the point. Martin Scorsese did another long documentary about Bob Dylan. I still need to check it out but gotta find some time for that. This one was okay.
Rampart Didn't like the movie as much as I wanted to. It was a bit of a downer and depressing. Basically, it was a Taxi Driver but with a cop instead. But not as good as Taxi Driver. I was expecting to see more of the crooked cop stuff and action. This was more of a drama and downfall of this character played by Woody Harrelson. This was filmed in Los Angeles, CA. Kudos for the Tommy's scene. Love their chili cheese fries. I wouldn't recommend this one.
Every fourth Friday of every month this year, I'll be checking out a kung fu movie of any period. Gives me an excuse to kick the walls and break blocks of wood. Also gives me the excuse to go to I Luv Video or Vulcan Video and catch up on some great kung fu flicks out there.
Love On Delivery This is the first directed film by Stephen Chow. You know, the same crazy guy who brought us Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7, and Shaolin Soccer. Like all his other films, he delivers on Love on Delivery. You'll find his usual over the top action and dialogue. Lots of quick silly shots. I love his humor and his style. Right here, he learns kung fu to try to get this girl. But the kung fu is silly and he never really learns but knows how to do a certain move that can probably win the girl. I enjoyed it a lot. I've seen all of his other films except Forbidden City Cop. But, I'll see that one soon. Highly recommend this film for fans of Shaolin Soccer and King of Comedy.
Chernobyl Diaries I was going to wait for this on DVD. But, decided to take advantage of a free screening. On the positive side, the horror elements are there. This had a few scares for me. Crazy moments that deal with either with a bear, fishes, and some crazy deformed people. Not giving away spoilers here. For a horror movie, the stuff is there. As a fan of movies, I wasn't satisfied. The stuff that leads to each scare have all been done before. A lot of cliches. Of course the van is not going to work when the tourists are about to leave. Of course, the people are going to walk towards dark spaces and weird objects. They just have to. Those are just some of the things I didn't like about the story. But, kudos for getting me scared a few times. My favorite character is the big Russian tour guide. If you're a fan of horror and want to see this, have some low expectations and expect the story to not be as original. After that, you'll probably like the movie.
This Means War So this was my only choice today. I didn't want to see Harry Potter in a Horror movie (Woman in Black) and I didn't want to see black soldiers flying (Red Tails). So here we are. It was actually entertaining and cool the first half of this movie. Then it started getting annoying and retarded in the second half. Predictable stuff happens. If only the second half was as good as the first half, then this would of been pretty awesome. I mean, I've seen a lot chick flicks. There's some I can stand and some that I can't. This was a little better than I expected but still, it wasn't for me. Tom Hardy is pretty sweet here. Reese Witherspoon does good here too. Didn't like that Chris Pine guy. Oh well. As far as chick flicks go, Five Year Engagement is very awesome and funny. It is my #2 favorite film this year so far.
Brothers Okay call me crazy, I think most of you already think so anyway, but I saw two movies today. The original and the U.S remake of "Brothers." I had the original scheduled for today, but in the middle of watching it, decided to watch the remake after. The original is from Denmark. I liked it. It was powerful. I knew what the story is about. I thought it was going to be more about the drama between the brothers. Instead, it was the traumatic experience of the brother who went to war and the crazy thing he did to come back. Yes, there's some drama between them. Serious movie with some funny moments. Great acting by all of them. I took them all seriously. I found this on sale so I bought it for my Foreign section. I'm a sucker for Foreign films so I pretty much buy almost any Foreign film that is good. Maybe I'll travel the world one day. Next up, the U.S. remake of this movie.
Brothers You probably already know how I feel about remakes made almost around the same time as the original. This remake was made five years later. It stars Spiderman and Donnie Darko. I couldn't take both of them seriously. There was hardly any changes between the two movies. Just some minor details. This one felt like they were all trying to be a little more dramatic. The war stuff was different. It wasn't as powerful as the original. But kudos for trying. It was interesting to see this movie after the original. It was practically seeing the same movie twice. Couldn't help but compare the two every single minute. Maybe one year I'll have a Remake Vs. Original Movie Night.
301/302 A little weird Korean film. That's a bold statement. This actually was a little too weird for me. I liked the concept. One neighbor is a culinary artist and the other neighbor has anorexia. The culinary girl tries to cook and make the anorexic girl fat. The food made by the girl seemed really good at first. After a while, I wanted to throw up myself. Poor little doggie. As for the anorexic girl, this actress was not that skinny as she should of been. But, oh well. This went okay with some Hites.
Couldn't find a trailer to this movie but it sounds interesting.
Every third Thursday I'll comment on a home invasion movie I've never seen before. When I saw Kidnapped from Spain last year, I decided to start a home invasion section for my collection. Might as well do a special on this.
Mother's Day Wow!! Badass Home Invasion movie. I loved it a lot. Lots of unexpected moments. Rebecca De Mornay steals the show as a nice proper but psycho mother. This is from the same director who did most of the "Saw" movies. Crazy moments like when they made the two guys fight with a country song playing in the background. Lots of crazy torture scenes. One original torture scene I've never seen before is the scene where they pour boiling water to make one guy go deaf. The acting was a little cheesy but it's all about the craziness with the family. I first heard about this back in Fantastic Fest 2010. Now that it's out on DVD, I had to see it for Home Invasion Night. Must buy for the collection.
Chronicle Okay, I liked the story and some of the cool superpower stuff but I hate hate the way they told it. I have no problem with Found Footage movies. I like Blair Witch Project, Cannibal Holocaust, and [REC]. There's some miss and hits with these types of movies. Now this movie, that didn't work for me. It's supposed to be somewhat believable when you have a camera around. Usually the camera happens to be in the right moment. But here, they exaggerated over the camera use. Not only that, but they multiple cameras. We have a girl with a camera. We got surveillance videos being part of the movie. Lots of jump cuts even if the character did not turn the camera off. My favorite letdown is when our main guy here breaks the windows and takes everyone's device with him in the air. We got a multiple camera shot. I was disappointed with that aspect. But everything else was pretty cool. I wish they would of focused more on the bullying and revenge than a story with a sick mother and a typical drunk dad. But oh well. I loved that magic show. I loved the scene where this guy takes some teeth from this bully. I love tearing the spider into pieces with the mind. I liked the story a lot. Just not the way they presented the movie. It took away some of the magic for me. Check it out if you don't mind found footage films. Some scenes are worth checking out. Other than that, stay away.
Mamma Mia! This is a musical made by the songs from ABBA. I don't know much about ABBA. The only song I knew from them was "Dancing Queen." This movie was pretty okay musical especially for Mother's Day. Got to learn that "Take A Chance On Me" is from ABBA. I like that song and I liked that part of the movie. There's some cheesy moments. But, the musical parts is what makes this movie for me. It was pretty cool. Meryl Streep kicks ass in this one. That Amanda Seyfried girl, got on my nerves. Who cares who her daddy is. Leave them alone. This went great with a nice Greek pasta salad and white wine.
Dark Shadows Tim Burton delivers through most of the movie. Love the 70's look and the 70's songs. Danny Elfman's score once again rocks. Little funny moments. Johnny Depp? Well, he's pretty much the same as in every Burton film. Didn't bother me. My favorite character is the butler (played by Freddy Krueger). Our antagonist, the witch, was also good. She was annoying as hell but that was her role. The actress kicked ass. I enjoyed most of it except the last 20 minutes. I don't know. I've never seen the original show. So I can't compare nor I can't judge it too much. All I know is that I wasn't satisfied with the last 20 minutes of the film. Didn't like the warewolf stuff. And the last romantic stuff. But, other than that, I loved the movie. As a whole, it wasn't a disappointment like the last Burton film. Kudos!!!!
Every 2nd Wednesday of every month I'll be checking out a movie from any country in South America. My goal is to see one movie from each country. This excludes any films I see at film festivals.
Tonight's movie is from Venezuela.
Huelepega: Ley De La Calle Thought this was going to be bad but it actually wasn't. There's hardly any Venezuelan films out there. I needed to see one in order to fulfill my "seeing a movie from each South American country" goal. This was my only option at my local video store (kudos to Vulcan Video). These kids are hardcore. They steal, they sniff glue, and apparently they are good poets. My favorite character was Mocho. He was great playing a mentally challenged gangster. Had the best moments. Original. The only downer to this drama/gangster movie is the music. The music made me feel like I was watching a soap opera. I couldn't find a trailer to this but this is worth checking out. I liked it. Next month for South American Cinema Night, we'll have a movie from Colombia.
Underworld: Awakening Didn't like this one that much as the others. To start with, I thought it was going to be all about humans fighting vampires. But, these "humans" aren't humans but powerful lycans. I didn't know our main vampire lady (Selene) knew how to bring vampires back from the dead. And she's now stronger than ever for no given reason. So I didn't like some of the changes. There was some decent action and lots of blood. But not enough for me to like this movie a lot. Thank goodness I rent before buying to see if a movie if movie deserves to be bought for my collection. This one, all I can say, at your own risk.
[Every first Monday of every month is 80's Monday. There's a lot of movies that came out in the 80's that were so popular that I haven't seen. I'm an 80's kid, so this segment will give me a chance to catch up on some of those popular typical movies from this period.]
The Lost Boys Nice 80's vampire movie. It was different than what I thought. It was a bit cheesy (in a good way), it was a bit fun, and had the two Coreys in it. Some classic lines like, "Death By Stereo." Another good moment was when Corey Fieldman's character told Corey Haim's character that he needs a stake and to stick it to his brother. Good sweet moment. Some good vampire action. A little predictable but this is an 80's movie. It's all good. And my favorite part has to be the ending. Damn grandpa knew about these vampires all along. I loved it. Strap on some garlic and get this movie going if you happen to be one of the few who haven't seen it yet. Kudos for the "People Are Strange" cover by Echo and the Bunnymen.
The Avengers Action pack, Peewee, Action Pack!!! Every second had production value. This was way better than expected for me. In fact, it so badass, it had me jumping for joy a few times. I know there was a lot of hype for this movie for years, but I didn't want to follow the hype. And the marketing for this movie all this year kind of turned me off. But, I'm glad I went to see it. This is way better than Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man 2. I think what made this movie was "The Hulk." He was the best character and stole many of the scenes. One of the scenes with Hulk towards the end, which I won't spoil, literally had me and the audience clapping. Another thing, it's not a biggie for most people but it is for me so I'll say it now: I liked the Harry Dean Stanton short cameo in the middle of the movie. He's that old guy who gave Hulk some clothes. Good popcorn movie!! A must for the comic book/graphic novel section. Good start for an awesome summer.
Saving Private Perez Good Cinco De Mayo movie. This was a nice surprise because I thought it was going to stupid. It was way better than expected. Mexicans in the Middle East? That's unheard of. It was funny. I like the little things like Mexicans eating ethnic food they are not used to. One of them pops out a bottle of Tabasco and starts pouring. That's so true. Gotta have some spice all the time. And the music was also good. Typical Mexican Norteño music. I would buy this. Would make a decent double feature with Casa De Mi Padre. Except this one is a little better and less cheesy.
Underworld: Evolution The latest Underworld movie is coming out on DVD next Tuesday. I haven't seen the last two. I heard that I don't have to see the last one because it's more of a prequel and background movie that has nothing to do with the other movies. Last night I re-watched the first one. And now tonight, I'm going with this sequel. I liked this movie a lot more. It's still a little complicated but lots of things going on. The first movie hyped this one up. While it didn't live up to the hype, it was still nice to see some vampire vs. wolf action. Cool effects with some of the kills. They explain it more clearly here about the origin and conflicts between these characters. While I still don't consider myself a fan, I can at least say that I was entertained. One of my favorite scene is the scene with Tanis (the vampire that was exiled). His lines were funny. Too bad he gets killed right away (after spoiling some secrets, of course).
Next Tuesday I'll be checking out Underworld: Awakening for New Release Tuesday.
Haywire This new movie from Steven Soderbergh was okay. Nothing new to bring to the audience. This main character is kinda like Bourne from the Bourne movies, except she's a girl. And she might be better cause she knows where to find stuff easily and when she wears a hat, it never falls out when she's jumping building after building. Okay, the last sentence is a little sarcastic. I didn't like the music here. It didn't go with the movie. The music reminded me of the Ocean 11 movies (same director). But as a good note, I love the ending where: Spoiler Alert
Antonio Banderas says "S#@t." Good way to end it. Not worth adding to the collection but good to check out on a boring Redbox day.
O Palhaco Wow!! Great Brazilian Circus movie. Loved every minute of it. This is my type of movie. And what a treat it was. It was cute, it was artsy, it was funny, and it hit the right spot. It wasn't too much or too little. I love all the small characters. I like that one sheriff guy who talked about his cat for a few minutes. I like the performance by the little girl. I like the main character who is obsessed about buying a fan for the girl. The director plays the main character himself. And the music was awesome. This is a must buy for my Foreign Section. Can't wait to own it. This is the type of movie worth celebrating for. Watch out for this one.Great cinema.
In The Shadow Went to Cine Las Americas today to check out two movies. One movie (this one) is directed by a friend of mine, Nicole Elmer. I worked with her on a couple of short films before, and she's amazing on what she does. So I was excited to see her first feature. This is a part mystery and part drama that was shot in Puerto Rico and Austin. And has a cameo by Danny Trejo himself. I liked the story. If I had a gift to bring back the dead, I don't know how I would act. A few intense scenes. Beautiful shots of Culebra (a Puerto Rican Island). This is a movie to drink some red wine with. I like the background characters and atmosphere. Not bad for a low budget film.
